Wind
Patterns Persist, up and down Tuna and Wahoo Action -
December 10, 2016
Anglers –
December 10,
2016
Though
overall we are presently not seeing any significant numbers of tourists, we
actually saw quite a few anglers appearing, most of them spur of the moment,
ready to try their luck and brave the elements. The most common gamefish being
encountered off of the San Jose del Cabo region and towards Los Frailes has
continued to be yellowfin tuna, with other species in the mix, including some
lightning fast wahoo action found on Tuesday and Wednesday near Vinorama, which
was on the two days when the north winds did finally lay down, enabling some
local charters to reach these more distant grounds. Weather patterns definitely
cooled off this week, we felt l\early morning low temperatures of 50 degrees
early in the week daytime time into the 70’s, very persistent north winds,
which in turn contributed to a cooling trend of the ocean water temperatures,
down in the 75 to 77 degree range, with warmer currents of 80 degrees further
offshore. If these north winds slack up some, we could see fall type gamefish
action into the New Year, though if winds become too relentless we will
certainly see species such as dorado, yellowfin tuna and wahoo vanish in the
direction temperature southern waters. Spots of green water moving in were also
reported, a pattern we do see during cooling times. So we are in the midst of another
transitions period, waiting to see what exactly unfolds.
Anglers had
choices for bait, slabs of squid, caballito and ballyhoo, we expect we will
soon find some sardineta and mackerel. Wind from the north played a factor to
where fleets were able to fish in reasonable comfort, most charters
concentrated on grounds from the Gordo Banks to Vinorama. Yellowfin tuna were
being accounted for while drift fishing with strips of squid over high spots,
such as Iman, close to shore off Punta Gorda as well. Some of the more
productive yellowfin action was encountered associated with fast moving
porpoise, with the tuna hitting on strips of squid drifted near the
concentrations of the porpoise. The tuna this past week were most commonly in
the 15 to 30 lb. range. We did see one 150 lb. tuna caught mid-week from a
private boat from off the Gordo Banks.
Dorado
became more scattered by the day, not seeing any numbers, an occasional report
of a couple of dorado here or there, more often in the direction of Cabo San
Lucas, heard of at least one 25 lb. bull. On Tuesday the wahoo went on a frenzy
feeding mood near Vinorama, first opportunity in a week or so that charters
were able to scout out these further grounds. Slow trolling with trap hooked
baits enticed most strikes, though anglers also had hook ups on trolled lures
and while casting yo-yo jigs. This action really only lasted two days, as on
Thursday the north winds picked up nasty once again. Wahoo ranged in sizes to
45 lb.
Billfish
action was slow off of our local grounds, though early in the week we did hear
of a black marlin being hooked into off of the Gordo Banks, estimated to be in
the 400 lb. class, the fish eventually broke the 100 lb. leader. Should start
to see some numbers of striped marlin move in as water cools and food sources
such as mackerel appear.
Not much
going off the bottom, particularly with the winds creating choppy conditions.
Mostly picking away at some shallow water structure species, such as
triggerfish, yellow snapper, pompano, bared pargo, cabrilla and a few rainbow
runner.
The combined
panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out
approximately 87 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
260 yellowfin tuna, 9 dorado, 49 wahoo, 12 pompano, 2 amberjack, 11 yellow
snapper, 5 leopard grouper, 8 huachinango, 9 sierra, 6 rainbow runner, 8 barred
pargo and 170 triggerfish.
Good
fishing, Eric
This entry
was posted in Fish Reports by admin-pangaMan. Bookmark the permalink.
Published by: Gordo Banks Paangas